A Knight's Tale
by Seiferalmasy1930
Summary: This story revolves around the eyes of a member of the Zexen Knights who is purely an original character . This story explores the everyday life of a Zexen Knight and also the ways of the Zexen people . Please R & R ! All reviews are welcomed !
1. Default Chapter

A KNIGHT'S TALE  
  
Red . Blood Red .  
  
A color brewed with anger and hatred .  
  
The light blue distant horizon fades away into the rolling hills that were once so green .  
  
It was only appropriate that the color of the sky be tainted and twisted by the tormented spirits of both my enemies and fellow countrymen .  
  
How could they forever rest , dying with the knowledge that they were filled with so much hatred ?  
  
After much contemplation , I've come to realize that their violent deaths will prevent them to acknowledge their own deaths and this will keep them anchored down on this desecrated place , preventing them from spiritual rest . Forever engaged in spiritual battle against themselves .  
  
Now , the air seems to echo the clashing of steel and the screams of both the blood thirsty and dying .  
  
The battlefield was littered with mangled , bloodied bodies forever frozen in suffering and torment . One who has survived could not help feel that he had witnessed a mass desecration .  
  
Now I stand on the edge of losing my sanity and my soul . My bloodied sword , is gripped by my gauntlets out of fear and loss . I thought that this would be yet another battle that we could come out of the same person that we were before .  
  
It was a very harsh revelation for me and for those who had survived the battle that took place .  
  
I had never felt so vulnerable in my whole life , I did not prepare myself to see the twisted horrors that was evident during the fighting and killing . And the flashbacks of these memories haunted and plagued me like vengeful wraiths .  
  
All of those memories began to play their unforgiving images of the past once again . Scenes of blood spilled and steel contested began to appear , most of what seemed to be blurred imagery of the horrors of the battle that took place before . It seemed that from that horrors that I remembered , the scenes where I witnessed my comrades being massacred were the most significant ones . As hard as I tried to resist to not allow my demons from exploiting my fear , I succumbed to my very weakness and I felt being overwhelmed by the darkness that the demons were harbingers of . I shook my head violently in desperation to deliberately lose my concentration in the nightmare that I could not wake up from .  
  
I was left with a neck pained with a twisted neck muscle sprain and in a dizzy , mind unsettling trance of a blurry sight of the light red skies . I was ironically thankful that I was able to see through my eyes and catch the sight of the twisted battlefield that laid out in front of me .  
  
As I thought that I was free from the nightmares of the battle ... The battlefield seem to manifest itself into a diary of its own horrors .  
  
And then in a flash of a moment , the bloodied plains seem to turn into a darker hue of red . Dark silhouettes of armor and bodies littered all over the battlefield seem to twitch and move slightly . The solemn silence abundant throughout the battlefield is eventually broken with the moaning of death , suffering and the blasphemy of forbiddened life .  
  
The dark silhouettes of fallen men soon rise and groan at every effort made to stand for their bodies are pained with wounds that would normally drive away the spirit from their bodies . But their spirits still remained in their husks that were nearly destroyed by the wounds inflicted on them . It was a sickening sight that made me curse out to the necromancer that made their spirits stay in their dead bodies .  
  
I stared out into the vast ocean of undead and was instilled with shock , awe with a lingering fear which made my aching body froze with a spiritual emptiness . The sea of the dead was filled with a huge variety of dead soldiers and knights : Zexen Knights , Men at arms , light and heavy cavalry units , Karayan infantrymen and Lizard heavy infantry Clansmen . The only thing that they had in common with each other is the expression of suffering and cold , gaunt lifeless feeling that was instilled on their faces .  
  
Suddenly , a near silent whisper of a incomprehensible voice with a tinge of a somewhat sorrowful malice ring into my ears . At first , I discarded the thought that the whisper was a message that was intended for my ears to hear , but the whispers grew louder and clearer and it sounded like winds blowing through a storm carrying words foretelling doom and despair . As the whispers grew louder and clearer , so did the significance of evil and its message of darkness grew .  
  
It was not a long moment later that I could recognize the tone of the voice that whispered such vile desecrating voices . At first recognition of the voice , my conscience froze and I was instilled with guilt . As much as I didn't want to believe that the person who would do this to me , I could not ignore the voices from the winds that blew into my ears .  
  
My eyes that peered through the endless fields of the dead suddenly caught my attention to a soul whose face was writhed with agony . When I fully caught my whole eyesight on him , I shuddered and gasped in terror . I took a step back to balance myself as I lost control of my legs and tried to desperately stop my hands from shaking . At the moment my eyes met his cold , vengeful glare filled with so much hurt and the longing for retribution , it seems almost impossible to break away from his stare of fury .  
  
Irelon .  
  
The very person whom I was entrusted to protect .  
  
And I failed .  
  
Now the very state that he is in is testament to my weakness and my inability to protect him .  
  
He has became what I had dreaded and longed to escape from . Another demon who was conceived by my own doing .  
  
And I know now , I know that his desire of retribution would be satisfied by the darkness that he has blindly bathed in and lovingly embraced with his innocent soul .  
  
Irelon looked onto me as I was instilled with horror and guilt . Apparently , I assume that he savored the moments where I have displayed my weakness to give in to my emotions .  
  
The terror and feelings of despair heighten as Irelon began to smile fiendishly . The ends of his mouth tore the sides of his face and reached his ears . I knew that somehow this was not the Irelon that I knew at all , for many times before I had seen him smile with so much happiness and innocence that I had to admit even melted and touched my heart one so many times .  
  
Nonetheless , the darkness and his extreme pain of his death has made him become into the monster that I see now . And I shun the very evils that has twisted him to this wretched state .  
  
Without any warning , Irelon began to raise his arms and open his palms , as if he wanted me to come to him and embrace him as a friend .  
  
And all the dead who have perished in the battle , now gathered in this unholy graveyard stared their soul tortured eyes at me . Slowly , they raised their arms gesturing towards me as if to come forward like Irelon did and cry out in a common hollow and shrill wispy voice filled with evil intentions .  
  
And then , Irelon began to open his mouth and spit out the very words that I feel was the finishing blow to the nightmare in front of me .  
  
" You shall become one of us , Antier ... filled with sorrow , feasting on suffering and embracing the death of others like kin ..."  
  
It was everywhere , those very words . They screamed into the grave of my fears which I had thought I had exorcised and buried long ago when I've learnt to deal with my fear when I was a squire then . Now , I can feel my fears are being resurrected and longing to eat away at my soul . Where is my courage , my stalwartness , my mettle ? Suddenly I have lost the very weapons that I have used time and time again to fight away death , danger and the devils that plague me so . And now I am rendered defenseless at the very instruments of my worst dreadful nightmares .  
  
The sense of dread fills up into my emotions , dominating my soul with fear . Every single demon that was inside of me that plagued him for as long as I lived arise to take the opportunity to drive him to my own death . I swear , for a moment I felt that my own spirit seemed to be pulling itself away from my body .  
  
Soon I feels as if the darkness around me is pulling my soul into itself to once again consume another soul to feed its evil hungers .  
  
I closed my eyes , crying down tears of sorrow as I fall into the dark spiral of death .  
  
" Forgive me Irelon .. I . have forsakened .. You .. "  
  
And soon I fall into the spiral of those who have fallen to the malice and bloodlust of war .  
  
" Antier ! "  
  
Soon the weary knight snapped out of his nightmare and was left in a hazy daze that scalded his brain and blinded his sight with a flash of pure white .  
  
" Antier ! " , The voice shouted into his state of half consciousness .  
  
Somehow , he could not be bothered to answer back to a regular Man At Arms who was checking on the personnel to keep record of the soldiers who were still alive .  
  
" Antier Herald ! If you are in this contingent , please answer ! "  
  
Antier looked up . The scowls of frustrations that he saw on the many faces of the Knights around him seem to scream into his conscience . He knew that through his silence , their presence in this God forsakened place will be prolonged .  
  
The entire battlefield was like a physical manifestation of Hell itself .  
  
" I am here . " , he said wearily .  
  
It was at the same moment when he fully regained his senses that he felt the weight of his armor . The discomfort , made present due to the sweat , dirt and blood came soon after . The wounds that Antier sustained overwhelmed him with torment which stirred up much bitterness in his mouth , making him hiss and spit out curses like poison every time due to the pain .  
  
It was the price to pay for being so daring in the battlefield . Luckily for him , the price this time was a small amount that he could afford .  
  
Antier then looked around him . Columns , rows , huge and small bundles of military personnel dotted the battlefield in every single direction . The echoes of shouts made by the Men at Arms rang far away into the rolling hills disturbing the silence of the dead . The necessity of the personnel being row called was tolerable . But to prolong the soldiers who survived to stay in the battlefield that embraced them with pain and death was torture . It was pure purgatory for all of these men .  
  
Soon after the checking of military personnel ended , the Zexen Knight Contingent made haste in traveling back to the direction of Brass Castle . And it was soon that the surviving men would learn that it will only be their only sense of relief as they made their way out of desecrated plains .  
  
The long journey was tormenting for the Knights . Even more so for those who had to walk or had lost their steeds in combat .  
  
After all the sacrifices and acts of valor that the Knights and Men who have made and written their loyalty in blood to the Confederation , they could not suffer any other dishonorable discharge than to have their feet endure a long and torturous journey .  
  
Antier knew that after every battle , huge or small would change a man . He just didn't knew that it would change a man so dramatically that it would mould or twist him to become so hardened and pained that he would never be the same again .  
  
The stress and the load on his body and spirit is tremendous .  
  
The sudden surge of pain from his body severed the Antier's mind away from the trance of thought and a blurry composition of what he sees around him . Now all that he feels is his body now .  
  
His armor now is his bane . His sword , a hindrance to his legs . His Knight tunic , nothing more than a ragged piece of cloth . Everything , seems to him is now useless .  
  
With every step , Antier felt that his leg muscles were no longer flesh but rusted steel . They grind into the bones of his legs , inflicting unbearable pain and testing his will .  
  
His wounds further bane him with stings , waves and pressures of unbearable suffering . The death of his comrade has diseased him with the sense of powerlessness , guilt and sorrow .  
  
Now he wonders if he could ever hold it all together .  
  
He didn't want to suffer anymore .  
  
Antier deliberately allow fatigue to take over his body and lets his mind drift away into the comforting darkness .  
  
" Antier !!!!! Antier !!!! ... Ant .... " 


	2. A Knight's Tale Chapter 2

" Do you think he will make it ? "  
  
" He's just tired . Other than his wounds he should get back to his feet within a week . "  
  
" Good ... "  
  
Antier likes the comforting plane of the darkness when he sleeps , it was a empty , serene plane that he could truly be alone with his thoughts and leave his worries and cares behind . It was a much needed rest from all the bloodshed and screams that he has heard days before . It was a state of peace that replenishes his spirit .  
  
But he knew that it wouldn't last forever . From time and time again he had been interrupted from his state of paradise and was left the bitter aftertaste of the reality that he hated when he wakes up .  
  
Suddenly , with a prescient sense , Antier felt that someone was watching over him . He hated the intrusion of his space and wished that it would go away . Although he knew better , he had always lost his temper at anyone who would disturb him . And he never did anything all these time to stop losing it . Therefore , Antier allowed the light of the real world to consume the nirvana of his sleep once more and confront the violator of his paradise once more .  
  
As his eyelids part away , revealing out his naked turquoise eyes into the world as it is as he sees , he began to feel the discomfort around the corners of the skin near his eyes . The hardened slimy dirt that has gathered around for as long as Antier was asleep began to poke sharply at the most sensitive areas of his facial skin . He began to rub his eyes in impatient frustration , only to cause much more discomfort as the force of his forearm made the hardened dirt dig hurtfully into his skin . As he lightened his strength off his arms almost instantly he had felt the painful response to his force , the pain subsided . He lifted away his forearm and was greeted by the already dusty , old pale light brown ceilings of the military hospital .  
  
True to his feelings , there was someone that was watching over him . And he did not appreciate the presence of this person , whoever he is .  
  
He was recognizable by his brownish black hair and somewhat suave facial features . Fully clothed in standard battle armor and Zexen Knight garments , the man who was beside him bowed a little and began to speak .  
  
" I would not try to get up if I were you . "  
  
The familiar voice that sounded with concern and care didn't moved Antier . He deliberately shut out his feelings and refused the person's goodwill to touch his heart . All that matters is that his uninterrupted and desired sleep was disturbed .  
  
Antier tried his very best to censor away his anger and frustration at the moment he realize that the person who had interrupted him had came here to see him out of concern . If he had the choice , he would blare out and yell at that person . But he restrained from doing so , slightly because he was rather touched by his gesture of visiting him and also that he didn't want to have a debating session with him again . And it was a painful struggle to suppress himself from doing that .  
  
" I was really worried about you . "  
  
" .... Detch ... "  
  
" Hmmm ? What ? "  
  
" Please leave me alone . I would appreciate the silence . "  
  
" You know that this wish could not be granted , Antier . "  
  
Detch took a stool and sat down near Antier and met his eyes with his own .  
  
The silence between their eyes seem to speak volumes . Both Antier and Detch knew that there was so much words , feelings and ideas that have yet to be spoken , heard and acknowledged between the both of them . But somehow , for as long as they knew each other , they had always been playing the game of tactful diplomacy due to their personal differences and outlooks to prevent the quarrels that they had often before .  
  
And on almost every occasion when the both of them spoke , Antier couldn't help feel that Detch's words has insincerity and hints of suppressed and held back feelings yearning to be released .  
  
" How could I not leave you be after all these days that you have been titillating death ? "  
  
Antier couldn't somehow be bothered to answer back to his friend's questions of concern and goodwill .  
  
" Antier .... "  
  
Antier continued to stare up at the ceiling of the sick bay .  
  
Detch added : " After all the reckless actions that you've done , and all the blades that bite into your mortal self .. "  
  
" .. I wonder how much more longer could you last whenever your life is placed on the balance in the battlefield ..."  
  
After all the years that Antier had spent with Detch in military training , he knew him inside out . He was familiar with his behavior , his preferences , his attitudes towards the world around him and his way with words that would easily sway the most unreasonable person .  
  
And he sensed that Detch is hiding something from him . Antier knew just by looking at him that it was a secret that he desperately wants to hide away .  
  
" You already know that I'm a survivor , Detch . And I don't do anything stupid that would kill me . "  
  
Detch was speechless , he did not know how to reply to the soldier that was under him who had saved his unit from constant danger almost every single time they drew their swords . The other men in his unit could not match his prowess and often felt that their unit was rather unbalanced , so much so that they did not know where in the battlefield they really belong .  
  
Perhaps , maybe Antier should not bear the burden and the risk of being the spearhead of the unit anymore . Or maybe , he shouldn't be the spearhead at all or in the unit at all . It would further risk his men to be pushed into the frontlines since they would be mistaken as the frontline division and would be ordered to push forward into the fray .  
  
" Antier .... "  
  
Antier quickly got up from his bed and began to sat upright and stare at Detch in a very frustrated and hostile manner . He wanted to confront the Detch about his somewhat guilty behavior and his motives that were suspect .  
  
" Antier , Antier , Antier , Antier ! ..... Come on , spit it out already ! You always do that when you are always holding back ! "  
  
Upon hearing his friend's remark filled with frustration , banality and harsh frankness , Detch turned away and closed his eyes , stayed silent and gave a heavy sigh . It was evident from his facial expression that his face expressed a huge disturbing maelstrom of many incomprehensible and unfathomable feelings that seem to trouble Detch for possibly as long as Antier was warded into the military hospital in Vinay Del Zexay .  
  
" Look at you ! You've guilt and worry written all over your face ! What the hell are you hiding from me ? "  
  
" Antier , of course my worry for you is evident all over my face ! Do you know how difficult it was to pass each damn day without the fear and anxiety that I feel even till now ? "  
  
" You are always like that ! Why the hell you just can't stop being a worrywart and have a little bit of faith in me ? " " Antier , just go ahead and look around the ward and see for yourself why I was so desperately and hopelessly worried about you ! "  
  
" Don't tell me what to do about what we are trying to argue now alright ? "  
  
" Antier , there is almost no one left in this room besides the both of us . Most of the soldiers and knights here have already been discharged from here who woke up from their much needed sleep to recover from their extreme exhaustion ! "  
  
With Detch having said that statement , Antier felt being disarmed through his words and finally was at the mercy of his friend . He had lost the duel of reason to him .  
  
" And I don't remember that you were the only soldier that suffered so much that I have to concentrate my worries on , Antier . "  
  
It seems to Antier now that Detch is preparing to inflict on him the coup de grace to silence his fighting spirit forever to claim his victory and make clear the point to him .  
  
" Because I had to deal with the inevitable deaths that came to the men in our unit after the hellish battle that we have survived from , I was so torn apart and was constantly grieving , and amidst all of the calamities I still have to struggle to stay focused to deal with all of these problems through this testing time . And during that time when I was at their bedsides , keeping vigil and comforting them , I have never felt so helpless because I couldn't do anything more . I've watched them fall off the edge of life that they were so desperately clinging on to , Antier ."  
  
Antier , couldn't help feel that he was entirely in the wrong to succumb to his anger and frustration and argue with Detch about his sleep's disturbance .  
  
" And Antier , after all the deaths that I've seen . I finally saw you and I knew that you would survive through all that we have faced .... together .. and ..."  
  
" The truth is ... Antier ... I placed all my faith , my hopes and dedicate .. all my prayers .. To you , while you were still alive ..."  
  
As much as Antier wanted to heavily rebut away Detch's composition of pleasant sounding words that were deliberately tailored to touch his heart and to soften him , he had felt the sincerity in his words that he had rarely sensed that were usually absent from his words and did not told him off . He usually hated to hear his easy , diplomatic ways of communicating primarily because he felt that it was hypocritical and deceitful .  
  
" Detch ...."  
  
Antier began to straighten himself as he sat upright .  
  
" When I was waiting for my name to be called out during the aftermath inspections , I began to realize and think about the actions that I have done lately during the battle . "  
  
Detch soon stared unto the blood stained hospital floor while he began to listen to his friend sharing to him his experiences . It seems to Antier that he needed to desperately hear the things that he was the thoughts that ran through his mind .  
  
" I began to think about our unit , about your condition and also ... about Irelon . "  
  
Detch began to tilt his head upwards upon the first mention of Irelon , the squire that was under Detch's care .  
  
" I was so disturbed by these thoughts Detch , and to tell you the truth , I wanted to forget everything that I knew about them . I could not handle their deaths very well , as much as you can't handle it as well . "  
  
" And the most painful thing is , that even as much as I tried and placed myself in harm's way so that at least the enemy could get me first before they get them , they still couldn't avoid being massacred in front of me ."  
  
" Antier , you know that what you have done is extremely irrational and endangering to yourself ..."  
  
" Detch , just think about it . the battalion on our left was almost being torn apart by the constant advancing of the Karayan soldiers , and both the front and right flanks were engaging in heavy , bloody fighting . If I don't go out to the left and help aid the already dying and outnumbered men , our left side will be made vulnerable and they could easily smash through our ranks . Please tell me whether I'm wrong in doing that , because I do not know what else should I do during that exact moment ! "  
  
Detch began to stare absently across the large ward and dwell on the wisdom of Antier's words . Antier knew that he was contemplating about the words that he just said . That was the problem with Detch , he dwells too much on his thoughts , too often and too much that Antier feels that it is controlling his emotions and even derailing him away from his duties .  
  
Detch then closed his eyes and took a deep breath . As he sighed and let down his shoulders in relief , he began to relax his body and stayed silent for a while . The feeling of peace began to flood all over him and the difference in Detch that Antier had saw then and now was huge . All of his troubles began to die out .  
  
" If that is so , Antier ... Maybe , my naked eyes are blind to the wisdom in your actions that I have seen lately . "  
  
Antier couldn't help feel but tease Detch about how foolish and stupid he was to actually allow his emotions to get the better of him .  
  
" If no one would take the initiative , who will Detch ? " Antier deliberately answered with a coy smile .  
  
With that said , Detch couldn't help feel that his comrade and confidant's sanity is hopelessly lost in the battle that cost the Zexen Knight Contingent heavy losses . But then again , his sanity was probably lost even before he had first knew him . Maybe it just got worsened to the point that he couldn't comprehend how his mind works anymore .  
  
" If you say so my friend . " Detch replied smiling , turning his head to get up from his seat .  
  
" I will report to you as soon as the doctor discharges me out from here ."  
  
" Take care of yourself , Antier . Please . "  
  
As Detch walked away , Antier continued to look at his superior until he had disappeared from his sight .  
  
Antier couldn't help feel tired and weary after doing all the things that he has done to help wake Detch out from his personal dilemma . But he delighted at the fact that it did make him want to go back to bed again and couldn't help himself to resist doing that . Now he could close his eyes and peacefully sleep once more while he still could . 


End file.
